


The Chance Meeting at Tom Blair's Pub

by killjoybekah



Category: Psych (TV 2006)
Genre: Developing Friendships, Drunken Confessions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:02:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21573436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/killjoybekah/pseuds/killjoybekah
Summary: Shawn tried to repress his feelings for Lassiter as long as he could. It felt like Lassie only knew how to be an arrogant, over confident, salt and pepper haired detective. That was until Shawn ran across the detective drinking his feelings away on his dreaded anniversary at Tom Blair's Pub. It wasn't until then that Shawn realized Lassie was more than what he allowed others to see. He was just a man, trying his best. And Shawn wanted nothing more than to support him in his time of need, even if he knew Lassiter would be devastated if he knew just how much effort Shawn was putting into solving his unsolvable case.This story takes place during the episode, "From the Earth to Starbucks". I plan to continue it farther than just this episode.
Relationships: Carlton Lassiter/Shawn Spencer
Comments: 4
Kudos: 85





	1. One Drunk Lassie

**Author's Note:**

> I've always loved this scene between them in the episode "From the Earth to Starbucks". Here is my version of events. Enjoy!

"You astound me."

Shawn sat there, dumbfounded for a moment. He was never one to be at a loss for words. He always had a smartass remark or retort to whatever anyone threw his way, but this time was different.

Lassiter, the man who has been trying to convince everyone Shawn wasn't really a psychic was admitting something he never expected to hear from his salt and pepper superior.

"Come again?"

"No, Shawn, just listen," Lassiter shushed him by placing his finger on Shawn's lips.

Shawn never expected Lassiter to touch him, let alone the soft touch of his finger pressed against his lips. 

"You astound me. Actually, it's more than astounding. It's downright impressive. It is some of the most impressive reasoning I've ever seen."

"Is there a punchline coming?" Shawn started to say, as Lassie's finger fell from his lips. "Come on, let's get to it."

"I don't know how you do it. I mean, it's not psychicness. We both know that's a crock of crap. You sir are unstoppable. Guaranteed arrest," Lassiter takes another swig of scotch. The ice clinking together as he placed his cup back on the table. He was hurt, and it wasn't just the drinking that showed it. He looked it.

"What exactly is happening here?" Shawn was still expecting this to be a huge joke. Lassie was just trying to worm his way into Shawn's walls to make him feel bad and to confess he wasn't a psychic. He had to be wearing a wire or something. Why else would Lassie be here of all places?

"Can I tell you a secret?" Lassie asked, leaning on the table. He pats the chair beside him to indicate to Shawn for him to sit down.

"I wouldn't recommend it, no," Shawn admitted, reluctantly taking the offer to sit down.

Carlton leans in closer to Shawn, so there shoulders were touching.

"You know how everyone thinks I've been separated for 9 months?"

"Yes?"

"2 years. 2 years tonight, and I'm the one who keeps trying to fix the thing. I mean... I mean, counselling, therapy, acupuncture... You name it and I've tried it or I've tried to try to try it."

Shawn was shocked. He felt like he was intruding on a moment. A Lassie who was always so confident and arrogant, was admitting a secret he kept guarded to Shawn of all people.

"Well, I'm going to let you go. Don't drive," Shawn stammered as he tried to get up from the chair, but he stopped upon hearing Lassie continue.

"You know... I used to be a good cop. Seriously. Stunning arrest record. One of the best in the department. I caught The Back Bay Killer," Lassie seemed so proud of his accomplishment. That case was a big deal for his career. Shawn needed to get out of there before he caused the man anymore pain.

"Yes, you did. I remember it well," Shawn replied, once again going to stand from the chair, but stopping. 

"Well, I had a tip..." Lassie was looking off into the distance.

"Yes, the blue sedan," Shawn said. But as soon as the words left his lips, he knew he had dealt another blow to the man. He looked at Lassie and saw the realization cross his face.

"Yeah... It was you?"

"It... Might have been me..." Stupid, stupid, stupid. How could he have done that? He didn't want to kick the man while he was down. He never meant to hurt him in the first place! Shawn cared about him. More so than the salt and pepper hair man deserved most of the time.

"See!"

"Come on, you still had to put it all together!" 

"Spencer. The blue sedan was the key to the whole thing! It was the murderers car!"

"Yeah, but who had to run the plates? And all those numbers and letters would have confused many a cop." He was just rambling now, trying to fix some of the hurt he had caused.

"Spencer, stop! I am done. Here," Lassiter said as he pulled out his hand cuffs and badge and places them on the table. "I want you to have these. I don't need them. I am over."

"Alright, stop this. This is nonsense," Shawn pushed the man's things back towards him. "I don't know why you are carrying all of this to a bar, but you are not over. Look. You are a striking man, with strong features, and eyes women want to do cannonballs into. You have great posture and penmanship the likes I've never seen."

Shawn stopped before he could say more. He thought the older man was attractive. He always thought that, but now here he was about to confess everything for the sake of making this arrogant asshole feel better.

"I've officially hit rock bottom. Month ago, I got this case right," Lassiter continued. "A healthy, 42 year old astronomer dies. Doesn't drink. Doesn't smoke. Spends all day in an ergonomically designed chair charting the night sky. Natural causes. That's what the coroner comes back with. Does a full autopsy and no red flags. Nothing. But I know he was murdered, and I just. Can't."

"What? What is this?" 

Lassiter was increasingly becoming more intoxicated as the conversation continued. Shawn had to stop this conversation before it got our of hand.

"Prove it," Lassie said, finally able to finish his thought. He leaned further in, until there faces almost touched. "It's like I'm so close to finally being able to understand something, but I just can't see it."

Shawn's heart skipped a beat. The only thing Lassie couldn't see was the man who cared for him, staring at him an inch from his face. Shawn, who was still sitting with him and listening to every confession that fell from his lips.

If he wanted to, he could kiss the man. But, he knew Lassie would never share the sentiment. He had just been confessing about his wife, or well, ex-wife? Or the person he had been separated from for 2 years now that he obviously still had feelings for. 

"The department won't even let me pursue it," Lassie claimed, finally breaking the silence that feel between them. Lassie backed up so they weren't so close together. Shawn let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding.

"Come on. You'll figure it out," Shawn stated, matter-of-factly. He placed his hand on Lassie's shoulder, to show his support. To somehow convey that he was there and he was listening. Even if the man probably wouldn't remember this conversation the next day...

"No. I won't. I can't, and I've accepted that." Lassie was defeated. 

"Alright, look, Lassie..." Shawn started, as the man beside him finished off the rest of the scotch. "Carlton. I believe you. I really do. You've just got to trust your instincts."

"Ahhhh!!!" They heard a loud, excited squeal come from a small woman. The woman he originally started the night with, before Shawn was able to figure out her boyfriend wasn't actually cheating on her. "I got engaged!"

She ran towards Shawn to give him a huge hug. In response, Shawn stood from his chair and walked a little ways from the table and his friend and accepted the embrace.

"Oh my God!" Shawn said in fake surprise. 

"Thank you! Ahh, I got engaged!" The woman squealed again as she ran to excitedly let everyone in the bar know of her good news.

"I'll never, ever see you again," Shawn said to the woman whose back was now facing him. She was already out of earshot, bragging about her news to anyone who would listen. "Bye."

Lassiter fell out of his chair with a loud thump before Shawn can turn back around.

"Stick with it, Lassie. You," Shawn started, until he saw the fallen man. "You can solve this thing. You're halfway there already."

Without thinking, he walked over to the man and helped him sit up. Lassie was out cold. A man who had tried his best to seem head and shoulders above the rest had, quite literally, fallen.

"Okay, Carlton... Let's get you home."

With that, Shawn swallowed his own feelings and they left the bar together, fully knowing he would never be able to confess his feelings the same way Lassie had just let out everything for him.


	2. Confronting Lassiter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shawn decides to question Lassiter the next morning, in hopes of learning more about the detective and figure him out. To his surprise, Lassie doesn't remember a single thing that happened the night before. Shawn is hurt by this information, but instead of dwelling on it, decides to use this as a way to help Lassiter solve his unsolvable case. Lassie will never suspect a thing if he can't remember bringing up the case in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit longer than the previous one. I honestly wasn't expecting to make this anything more than a one-shot, but I didn't want to leave those of you who liked it hanging. There is still some word for word stuff taken from the episode, but I'm slowly throwing in more original content. I hope that you enjoy!

Shawn and Gus were at the station, making small talk with an officer. Shawn kept glancing behind him, knowing Lassie would be walking by at any moment. He had worried about the man all night, wondering if he was doing okay all alone in that house of his. While he had gotten him safely home and into bed, he knew there wasn’t anyone there to take care of him. Bring him water to keep hydrated or to grab a wastebasket in case of an emergency puke. Shawn did all he could do. He lead the man to bed, placed a cup of water on the nightstand nearby, and shut the door behind him once Lassie was resting as peacefully as one could.

“Watch this,” Shawn whispered to his friend. He turned and began to follow closely behind Lassie, talking while they walked. Gus was obviously confused, but followed along nonetheless.

“Hey, Lassie,” Shawn greeted the detective. 

“What is it, Spencer?” Lassie asked, already annoyed by the psychic. It was too early for his shenanigans, considering the pounding headache he mysteriously woke up with.

“How ya’ doing? You okay?” Shawn was trying to be nonchalant. While he usually didn’t mind ruffling his feathers, this time he didn’t want to embarrass the detective. At least right away. Lassie was proud. Shawn was still surprised he had let all his emotions out the night before, and he was still processing some of the information that had been shared.

“Alright, I’ll bite,” Lassie said, waiting for the punchline for whatever unfunny joke Spencer was about to make. “What’s the joke?”

“Just wanted to make sure you got home alright last night,” Shawn quizzically replied. He knew the man had gotten home safely. He knew Lassie knew. Or at least he thought Lassie knew. He wasn’t trying to keep that a secret from him. Shawn had felt like he had been manhandling him, even just trying to get Lassiter through the doorway of the home was a challenge. Hell, he practically threw the man on the bed as it was just a workout in itself to get the man out of the car. Lassiter was much heavier than he lead on.

“From what?” It was becoming evident that he either didn’t know, or was just a really good actor.

“From the bar?” Shawn was trying to coax anything he could get out of Lassiter. He couldn’t have drunk that much that night, right?

“What bar?” Lassiter still didn’t let on that he remembered anything from the night before. That was, if he did remember.

“You were at a bar?” O’Hara sounded surprised by this information, as she rounded the corner and joined the trio in their discussion. Juliet knew he drank, but she never actually imagined Lassiter being the kind of guy who goes out to bars. He never seemed interested in getting to know anyone outside of work hours. He was always too focused on the job. Too focused on anything else that wasn’t trying to further any possible friendships at the station.

“No, I wasn’t at a bar,” Lassie said. He was still unsure where this joke was leading, but he was getting more and more confused as the conversation continued. “I don’t drink.”

“You don’t drink?” O’Hara knew this was a lie. Hell, they all knew it was a lie. What did he even mean, he doesn’t drink?

They finally reached Lassiter’s desk. Shawn was surprised how long a walk it had seemed. Did it always take this long to get here from the entrance? 

“Well,” he scoffed. “If you must know. I drink wine. And at weddings. The occasional snifter of brandy. Maybe a good single malt scotch…”

“Sounds like drinking to me,” Gus interjected. Gus gave Lassie a pointed look with one brow raised, which was immediately shot back at him by said man.

“Spencer,” Lassie began, as he took off his suit jacket. He was getting tired of this random line questioning. His head continued to pound, still refusing to give any thought to the story Shawn was trying to spin. “Why don’t you stop making up stories, okay? They are obviously bogus.”

“So you weren’t at Tom Blair’s Pub last night?” Shawn finally threw out. He didn’t want to take no for an answer. How did he not remember? Of course, he would forget the one nice thing he does for him. Maybe it was for the best. Lassiter would probably be mortified to hear Shawn had taken him back home. Even if it was to make sure he got there safely. Mortified that he had been so emotionally bare for Shawn to see. Or even just angry that Shawn had been in his sanctuary at all. He wouldn’t be surprised if Lassie took that as a cause to finally arrest him, even if it wasn’t for proving Shawn was a fake psychic.

“I don’t even know who Tom Blair is,” Lassie stared back. He was almost challenging Spencer to continue. Which of course, he did.

“Mhmm,” Shawn was now getting annoyed by this exchange. “So, how did you get this sweet bruise on your forehead?”

“I… had an altercation,” Lassie lied. He had no idea how he had gotten the bruise. But how did Shawn know that?

“Yes,” Spencer laughed. “With a table.”

“No, with a suspect,” Lassiter raised his voice. “Now, if we are done. I would really like to move on with my day.”

“I get it.” Shawn had one more card up his sleeve he could play. He began to walk around the desk, closer to Lassiter. “Yesterday was a tough anniversary for you.”

“What?” This had gotten his attention. He took a step towards Shawn, getting in his face. “Who have you been talking to?”

O’Hara was intrigued and confused by the sudden change in tone. She didn’t know anything about an anniversary, so how did Shawn? Was it some psychic trick? Or more? Gus was also staring at the pair, unsure of what to say.

“Uhh, nobody,” Shawn said in defeat. Lassie really must not remember a thing. “I’ll get out of your hair.” He gave Gus a look that said they should get out of there as soon as possible. They had already gotten under the detective’s skin, which was almost a new record for how early the day still was.

As they walked away, Carlton couldn’t help but stare at the pair. He knew there was some irregularities to his morning. Number one was the bruise that painted his forehead. There wasn’t an alteration. But how had Shawn known that? Number two was the cup of water that sat on the nightstand. He didn’t remember pouring himself the glass. Hell, he couldn’t remember a lot from last night. Number three was the strange dream Lassie had. He was floating, almost violently so. Falling and falling, with his only comfort being the soothing voice of yours truly. Shawn Spencer.

Carlton shook the strange feeling away. How could Spencer be any solace to him, especially in his dreams? The one escape he had from the psychic. That damned psychic, who seemed to always be around. Either at the station, or a crime scene, and now his dreams.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” O’Hara asked. This had been a strange exchange, even for Shawn’s standards of what constituted as being weird.

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Carlton confirmed. He gave one last glance to where Shawn and Gus had turned a corner, now out of his sight. Shawn really was a strange man.

“So,” Gus let out. “Are you going to explain what all of that was back there?”

“We have to solve this case,” Shawn confessed. 

They continued walking until there were a bit away, and stopped in the main hallway of the station.

“What case?” Gus asked, becoming more confused. He could never fully follow a Shawn Spencer thought process, and as usual he felt out of the loop.

“The one Lassiter can’t solve.” Shawn hadn’t felt more sure of anything than trying to help Lassie solve this case. He had to help him. Shawn felt responsible for how Lassiter was feeling, and almost rightly so. Sure, Shawn was a good detective, but he had ultimately been stealing Lassie’s thunder. This had been going on even before he had arrived to play the part of the great psychic detective. He had no idea it was because of him that Lassie had a big break on that case so many years ago. Shawn still would have been ignorant of this, if he hadn't learned about it last night. He had learned a lot about Lassie that night. Oh, how we never truly understand what those around us are going through.

“He’s going to hire us for a case?” Gus asked, fully taken aback. Gus knew Lassiter would rather die than admit he needed help from them.

“Oh, god no. He would never do that,” Shawn admitted.

“So, we won’t get paid?”

“Exactly.”

“So, we are just doing it for the glory?”

“Nope,” Shawn smiled, like he was telling Gus the best part of the plan. “We give Lassiter all the credit. In fact, I don’t think he can even know we are helping him.”   
  
“Dude,” Gus sarcastically began. “That’s a great idea, Shawn! I ditch out on a day where we release three new products, to spend time on an unsolvable case, in which we won’t get paid, and someone else gets all the credit!”

“That, quite honestly, was some of the best nutshelling I have ever heard.” 

Sometimes Gus had no idea when Shawn was joking or not.

“We made a deal,” Gus angrily stated. “Yesterday! We are equal partners. That means that we collectively decide which appointments to make, which cases to take. We have to live by that. At least for a day. Especially today.”

“You're right,” Shawn admitted. He felt somewhat bad for what he was about to say to his friend, but also couldn’t help the smile that slipped on his face. “But that’s going to be a problem though.”

“Why?” Gus angrily waited for his friend to drop the news of what he had done. Shawn always did this, no matter what they agreed to beforehand.

“We already have an appointment with the dead guys widow.”

“When?” Gus was naive to hope it would be in an hour, maybe even two.

“Ten minutes.”

“Ten minutes?” Gus was definitely going to need a breather after this conversation. He couldn’t believe Shawn. Yet, internally, he was unsurprised. Just annoyed at his friend.

“Look, don’t worry,” Shawn said. He wanted to make it seem fun and exciting. Something where maybe even Gus would be so entertained by the idea, that he possibly would drop everything that day for this meeting. “I am going to do it in the Chief’s office. I just need you to stand guard at the door, and make sure no one catches us in there. It will double the excitement. Maybe even triple it. Now come on, who’s in?”

Shawn put out his fist, naively in the hopes Gus would fist bump him back and agree to this crazy, half-assed plan. He started to get nervous when, after a couple moments, Gus continued to angrily stare back at him.

“Don’t fool around, Gus,” Shawn continued, in the hopes that his friend would either respond or reciprocate the fist bump he longed for. “You know I can’t hold this for long. I get very poor circulation to the limbic regions.”

Unsurprisingly, Gus gave him one more angry stare, and stormed off. So much for that plan.

“And now my pinky is going numb!” Shawn yelled after him. He huffed, knowing he would have to do this alone. He took a moment to fist bump himself, and went straight back to work.

“Don’t worry, Lassie. We’ll get to the bottom of this case,” Shawn whispered to himself. He was sure of it. He had to be.

Shawn was surprised by how adamant he felt about wanting to solve this case for Lassiter. The man did nothing but berate him at times, but there was something about that salt and pepper hair that made him keep coming back for more. Maybe it was how strong Lassie always seemed, even if he was silently going through the pains of his personal life. Maybe it was the lean figure. Or maybe he just had the hots for the way he carried himself with such authority and self-confidence.

Shawn walked towards the front, in search of the deceased's widow. 

“Mary?” Shawn asked the blond haired woman in purple. 

She turned around, and looked somewhat unsure of why she was back here for more questions. The police over the case told her it was case closed, and blamed it on natural causes. She had started to come to terms with this, still feeling somewhere in her gut this had to be wrong. Yet, here she was. Ready to answer more questions, in the hopes they would finally get to the bottoms of her husband's death.

“Yes?” Mary responded. She was expecting Carlton Lassiter, the detective originally over the case. She was not expecting the man she saw before her. “I think I am supposed to be meeting Detective Carlton Lassiter?”

“Of course! And that is me,” Shawn beamed. She gave him a quizzical look. “Same name, different person. Don’t worry. It happens a lot! Now, let’s go back to my office where we can discuss this more privately. Okay?”

“Okay,” Mary replied. She was still unsure of who this man was, but if he could help her figure this out, then she figured she could give the man a few minutes of her time. “Thank you, Detective Lassiter.”

Shawn smiled, “Please, call me Lassie.”


End file.
